Brassiere and harness



March 3, 1931 s. MAXWELL BRAssIfiRE AND HARNESS F'il ed Sept. 26, 1928 Patented Mar. 3, 1931 UNITED STATES SHIRLEY MAXWELL, LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA BRASSIERE AND I HARNESS Application filed September 26, 1928. Serial No. 308,449.

This invention relates to a new and improved brassiere of simple construction,

adapted to cover and support the bust in a' natural, youthful position without exerting undue pressure thereonand to a harness permitting said brassiere or other brassieres to be worn upon the body without discomfort and Without exposingsaid brassires when low-cut gowns are worn.

An object of this invention is to provide a brassiere adapted tosupport the bust in a natural, youthful position separately and without forcing them together Another object is to provide a brassiere adapted to support the bust in a natural position and'maintain the bust in said position when the wearer is engaged in strenuous exercise.

Another object is to provide a brassiere 2 capable .of being worn with low-cut gowns without being exposed by said gowns.

A still further object is to disclose and provide a harness by means of which brassieres may be supported upon the body without shifting or slipping.

An object ofthis invention is to provide a harness whereby brassieres may be worn to maintain the busts in a natural youthful position without binding or chafing the wearer.

Fig.3 illustrates the pattern of the main pieces from which my improved form of brassiere is constructed.

It is well known that with maturity the breasts enlarge and very often change in apearanee and structure, becoming rather arge, soft and flabby, thereby losing their contour and being displaced from the position of the breasts.

tion which they maintain during the youth of a woman. Brassieres have been invented which have been provided with pouches adapted to receive the breasts but such brassieres do not mould the breasts to a youthful form as they exert -a horizontal pressure I thereupon, thereby flattening the breasts, crowding them together and actually injuring the tissues Furthermore the brassieres made hereto- C0 fore, if so made as to adequately cover flie breasts. were simultaneously rather bulky, large and so extensive in area as to prohibit their use with low-cut gowns. Moreover the former brassieres did not exert a supporting action upon the breasts and were not attached to the body in such manner as to most effectively support the bust and as a consequence such brassieres were inconvenient as they -would chafe the wearer, were easily dis placed, would slip upon the body, and could not be worn when the wearer was engaged in strenuous exercise.

My improved form of brassiere and harness has none of the disadvantages of the prior forms; it may be worn with low cut gowns, will not slip upon the body of the wearer even when the wearer is extremely active and will simultaneously maintain the breasts in position and mould S0 them to a youthful contour. The brassiere and harness invented by me exert a pressure and distribute the stresses imposed thereon in such manner upon the body of the wearer that there is substantially no chafing, binding, slipping or undue localized pressure, in fact the wearer does not realize that she is wearinga brassiere.

Although the harness or device for maintaining a brassiere in position may be used with various forms of brassires having open rear portions, I will describe the harness in combination with my preferred form of uplift brassiere,

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 it will be seen that the brassie're comprises an upper portion 10 adapted to cover the upper por- Pieces 11 and 12 are attached to the lower edge of portion 10 and are adapted to cover the lower portion of the breasts, the two pieces 11 and 12 being similar the breast receiving pockets formed by this combination-of pieces 10, 11 and 12.

The upper piece 10 preferably terminates at a substantially vertical seam 14 positioned beneath the armpit f the wearer or slightly in front of said armpit. At the seam 14 the side edges of the'upper piece and the lower piece 12 may connect to a side piece 15 running substantially horizontally along the side of the wearer and terminating at the edges of the back of the wearer, as indicated at 16, Fig. 2.

Shoulder straps 18 may be attached to the front upper piece 10 at a point 17 and to the rear terminal of side piece 15 at theedge 16,

the length of the piece 16 being such (Varying with the size of the wearer) as to allow the straps 18 to lie in substantially vertical parallel planes when the br assiere is worn.

Preferably the'shoulder straps 18 are of elastic material.

As shown in Fig. 2 the brassiere 1s provided Withan open rear portion betweenthe A separate belt 19 positioned about 2 to 4 inches below the brassiere and provided with a rear joining means 20 such as books and eyes, snaps, buckle or buttons, is connected by elastic means 21 with .the brassiere, pref-.

erably at the lower rear terminus of'the brassiere, as at the edge 16. The elastic means 21 I are connected to the belt 19 near the joining means 20, thereby causing the elastic connecting means 21 to assume angles with the vertical when 'the belt 19 is placed upon the body and joined by. the means 20. Thiscauses a pull to be exerted upon the rear lower edges ofthe brasslere downwardly and L toward the center assuring a close fit. The

elastic connecting means 21 may be continuations of shoulder straps 18. The belt 19 is preferably'of elastic material.

The length of the elastic members 21 connecting a brassiere with the belt 19 may vary in accordance with the height of the wearer, the belt 19 being worn in a natural position at the waistline of the wearer. The lower ends of the connecting pieces 21 arepreferablyjoined tothe belt 19 near the clasp or joining means 20 so that the elastics 21 are stretched toward the small of the back when the belt is fastened by means 20. i

In Fig. 3, the pattern is shown from which the various .pieces may. be out. Only one half of the upper piece 10 is shown as the material may be folded upon the center line 22.

and bothsides cut simultaneously. The length of the material preferably runs from right to left as indicatedQ The side edge 29 is preferably small while the upper edges 31 and connected together at a seam 13 between i and 32 are cut on concave arcs; toward the point 17 to which the shoulder strap is attached The lower edge of the piece 10 may assume a substantially parabolic curve or be provided with substantially straight edge portions'23 and 23 joined by a curved tip 2a.

The lower portion 11 may be provided with a substantially parabolic upper edge comprising edges 26 and 27 and a curved tip 25-. Edges 23, 24 and 23 of the upper portion 10 are connected to edges 26, 25 and 27 respectively of the lower portion 11, thereby forming the seam 33, (Fig. 1) which seam when thebrassiere is upon the body assumes a substantially horizontal position passing di-rectly over the nipples. The loweredge 28 of the lower portion 11 may also be cut on anvarc as shown. The edges 13 and 30'may be straight but inclined to each other so that the edges 13 of adjoining lower portions form the vertical seam 13 (Fig. 1) while the edge 30 is joined to edge 14 of piece 15 forming a vertical seam also.

The edge 29 of piece ll'is also attached, to piece 15 at theedge 14. Preferably the material from which pieces 11 and 12 are cut runs in length vertically as'indicated in F ig.

3, edges 26, 27, 30 and 13 being cut on. a bias while edge 28 or the tip 25 is not. I It will be seen by the above construction the brassiere is retained in position upon the body'and thebreasts supported ina predetermined manner without binding. The articu-' lation of the arms is not interfered with and the breathing of the wearer is not restrained. My inventionis not'limited to the precise construction and combination described above however,ias the harness may be used with any type of brassiere having an open rear portion, and all modifications and changes coming within the following claim are'embraced thereby. .I claim: A, garment comprising in combination a brassiere incompletely encircling the body 1 and terminating at the" sides of the back whereby said brassiere is adapted to support and mold the breasts without restricting chest expansion, shoulder straps carried by said brassiere, a separate narrow elastic belt provided with rear joining means, and elastic connectors extending from theextremities of the rear end portions of thebras siere, diagonally downward and rearward to and connected with said belt on opposite sides of said joining means leaving an unrestricted space between the rear end portions of the brassiere so as not to expose any portion of the garment between. said shoulder straps above said belt.

Signed at Los Angeles, California, this 19 

